Smokin' Joes, Hyderabad

Somajoguda,
Hyderabad
5563 4442, 5563 4443
No Pork

Yummy, yummy, yummy.

The best pizzas that are home delivered. Pizza hut is best for in-house, but for home delivery nothing to beat smokin joes.

Try the Chicken bonanza, napolitana, mexicana and the smokin joes special. These r my favourites.

7" - rs80-135
10" - 120 - 200
12" - 160 -280
they also offer 4 non veg 6" for 240 and 4 veg 6" for 190
U can get special bases like thin crusts and whole wheat at no extra charge. Total VFM.

The cheese and sauce base is juicy and makes the pizza that much tastier. Toppings are really generous. Most pizza places have the sum total of your toppings as x, so whther u have 3 or 10 toppings on your pizza, the total toppings will be x, whereas with smokin' joes, u actually get x*no. of toppings. so that makes for a loaded pizza.

they have stuffed crusts too. My advice would be avoid the stuffed crusts, It turns the crust hard at the sides and since yr base gets turned inwards, it lessens surface area of the base and hence toppings get decreased in this scenario.

Their chilli corn cheese toast is cheesy n yummy. Heard good reports of the pasta but havent tried it yet, nor the dessert.

Good treat, on the days u dont wanna cook n just order in or u just have to have something cheesy. For hyderabad, this is the best dose of cheese u can get after the shepherds pie at TDS.

Lautre, Hyderabad

Life Style Building

Begumpet

Bob : 0.75





Decided to assemble at Lautre before hitting 10 Downing where it sometimes gets too crowded to locate your friends. Didn’t stay here too long so can just about list the pros and cons :



Pros :

Excellent food. The oriental prawns are amazing for their size and the price. Music is soft rock sometimes graduating to hard rock. It isn't crowded.



Cons :

It has no crowd !!!

The seating is like a mess hall with better seats and dimmed lights.

The tables are soooo HUGE.



So this is what I surmised. Well, I mentioned before, we didn’t spend too much time here... Actually the poor owner just can't seem to strike the right balance. He seems confused as to whether he wants to serve gourmet food, have a relaxed lounge or a rocking pub. If he improves the lighting a bit, I think this place could become one of the best lounges around in the true sense of the word. A place you can relax with good food in your tracks or sweats.



Getting to the rates, they are quite reasonably priced. But after partying in Delhi, the whole of Hyderabad seems reasonably priced. BOB is 75 to 120 depending on the brand. Rum is 65 for Old Monk and 75 for Bacardi 30ml. The cocktails range from 175 to 250. Food is very reasonably priced. They serve an afternoon buffet for 150/- which also doesn’t have too many takers. But it's better to order a la carte than try the buffet which is not always excellent or so I heard.



http://www.tulleeho.com/bc/bar.asp?ID=268&City=Hyderabad

Underdeck, Hyderabad

Under Deck

Taj Banjara

Rd No. 1

Banjara Hills

Hyderabad - 500 034

Ph : 040 5566 9999



The whole place is designed to give you a nautical feel. As you descend the stairs and even before you enter the pub, the flooring is covered with the same metal plates that the deck of a ship is. A few well placed lifebuoys and other props at the entrance just emphasise the name. The inside of the pub has a nice rich wooden panelling all over. This pub is a little on the smaller side but the décor is really cool if you are looking for a place with a difference. Although I can tell you that none of the ships that I have been on has interiors anything like this pub but then again, who cares ?



They have a live band playing there quite often. Music is normally good recognisable, lyrical music. Not the trance, house rubbish you get at the so called "hapenning" places. They have karaoke nites sometimes and the junta that comes up to sing is normally really good. Lots of firang and expat crowd here. Mostly the people put up @ the hotel. But the atmosphere is quite chilled and relaxed. Jeans and t-shirt is more than acceptable here as are sandals for the guys. So banish the thought of a stuffy 5 star pub.



Rates are ok. BOB is 100 to 160 depending on size and brand. Cocktails are classified into the 275 / 295 and 325 categories. Didn't try any, so wouldn't comment. Old Monk is 125 and Bacardi is 150. Prices go upto 2500 for a peg of blue label. Complementary popcorn and nuts are served in good quantities with the drinks. Their snacks are quite yummy too.



The staff dressed in white with sailor scarves is very polite and obliging altho its sometimes difficult to catch their eye once the crowd increases.



Decent place especially for winding down at the end of a weekend on Sunday nite, or even mid week relaxation.

Windsor Pub, Bangalore

7 Kodava Samaj Building,

1st Main, Vasanthnagar

Ph : 2258847





The seating and ambience is like Tom's but homelier. (Maybe because of the smaller area, but you kind of get the feeling of being in the drawing room of a house shared by a few bachelors). The cashier doubles as the CJ (Casette Jockey). Music is close to Pecos in taste and a 5 star restaurant in volume. Audible but not ear-threatening. Chairs are for sitting, tables are for resting your glasses, plates and bottles.



A whole lot of MIT (as in Manipal not Massachusettes) alumni haunt this place. Total relaxed mood prevails, no false facades, no minimalistic outfits except of course the bermudas sported by most of the clientele. 4 of us shared a pitcher + 2 mugs of beer (they do not offer any other alcohol... like pecos) + 4 steaks + 2 desserts + 2 xtra orders of garlic bread + an iced tea. The bill came up to about Rs.750/- They have some excellent kerala style sea food dishes and the steaks here are great. A relaxed evening would involve getting out of your business casuals and into your lounging clothes and hawai chappals. Get on your 2 wheeled thunder and rip across to Windsor Pub. Do not forget to leave your cell phone at home. Have 2 beers while the highlights of the days match plays on the TV screen so close as to let you feel i'ts is your own private TV. Finish with a steak of your choice and garlic bread. Mmmm.... Heaven on earth.





http://www.tulleeho.com/bc/bar.asp?ID=176&City=Bangalore

Insomnia, Bangalore

Le Meridien

28 Sankey Road

Bangalore 52

Ph :2262233, 22682828





This week saw the launch of Insomnia, Bangalore's first disc within city limits. Current permission for them to operate is 1am. Since everything else in Bangalore is forced to close down by 11am. This place is gonna be rockin.



They are positioning themselves as "the exclusive Cocktail Lounge-cum night club" . Launched by DJ Asad, the place has a good night-clubby feel about it. And it is definitely gonna be exclusive as they are charging membership to enter their hallowed trio of halls. A couple membership will set you back 40G's, a single male will have to shell out 25k and a single woman a measly 10k. Please note that this is this years annual membership fee. Management reserves right to increase membership fee at any point of time. Only members can get entry once the club starts functioning at full speed. And of course you may take your friends along. How many takers they will have......"lets wait and see".



The music is good as you have one of the top DJ's of Bangalore running the show. Atmosphere is cool too, the cocktail lounge is upstairs. Really well spread out. As you move downstairs there's another bar with seating arrangement for another couple of people who like their music loud enough to discourage conversations across the table and a sunken dancefloor.



Neat set up. Good balance. At least that's what it looks like now. As yesterday was the launch, and everything was on the house, I have no clue about their pricing. Will get back to you guys about this.



If their place really sets Bangalore afire it will be because of their extended hours of partying capability. Check it out in the next 15 days unless you have a friend who is definitely going to take a membership. Then you can pile on to him/her to take you along any time.



http://www.tulleeho.com/bc/bar.asp?ID=200&City=Bangalore

Hunt Bar, Nagpur

The Hunt Bar

Hotel Tuli International



I must confess that this only bar that I was taken to in Nagpur was a huge eye opener for me. Comfortably cushioned chairs with enough space to curl up on your individual chair (after those little itsy bitsy pieces that pass off for chairs in Bangalore's pubs) . Muted lighting that was neither harsh on the eyes nor forced your pupils to alternatively contract/dilate because of the ever changing intensity. Well airconditioned. Muted hindi ghazals (the crowning factor) wooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh what an experience!!



Drinking in Nagpur is quite reasonable so I'm guessing prices aren't too high. One thing nice about being a woman is that friends (male) you are meeting for the first time offer to buy you drinks. (this doesn't last too long though when they realise the quantity they are going to have to pay for ).



So I wasn't allowed to look at the menu. Complimentary nuts and chips were provided with bowls being constantly refilled. The setting was meant for Rum&Cokes so didn't even venture to try the cocktails. Crowd was sparse, so lots of breathing room. The few executives venturing to do business in Nagpur normally find themselves here at the end of an evening. Be prepared to see a couple of firangs around.



Service was non intrusive and pleasant

Sparks, Bangalore

133, Raheja Chancery

Brigade Road, Opp. All Saints Bakery

Ph : 223 0306

BoB : 1.4





In my opinion Sparks is the best of the 3 joints that opened together around the same area. The other 2 being Urban Edge and Mars 2211. Sparks has one of the best lighting effects that I have seen in a Bangalore pub. Some really cool pyrotechnics happen with their lighting system. Not being an engineer I cannot give you more technical details, but believe me those lights are a real trip once u r on a high. Its a milder version of watching jalwa on a high. (the original jalwa not this digen $^!!ty verma remix)



The music, totally depends on their theme or DJ for the day. I have gone there on the 70's 80's flashback nite and the music was out of this world. I have been there on the Caribeean night and they had good rockin reggae and R&B kind of music. Some tribal nite they had this really lousy stuff, which the much hyped DJ Ivan kept talking of as "Listen to the tribal music" "Swing to the tribal music" "rock to the tribal music" every 10 mins. It was like the public around would definitely not mistake that stuff for tribal music, but because DJ Ivan says its tribal music and keeps re-inforcing it, then it must be so.



In short, take a quick peek, if u don't like the first 2 songs you hear, then leave the place and go somewhere else. You are not going to like any music over the rest of the evening at Sparks. Believe me.



Drinks are higher priced. Cocktails are between 180/- and 360/- The cointreau was ok, except for the grenadine light overload. BOB is about 1.4. Their snacks are decent. Check out the Fish Fingers. As their ad says "Wicked Lighting & music to wake up the spirits." Just chose the day when the music is to your taste.



Mondays - Rock

Tuesdays - Retro

Thursdays - Reggae & R&B

Fridays - DJ Ivan & friends.



http://www.tulleeho.com/bc/bar.asp?ID=186&City=Bangalore